1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to: a tape printing apparatus capable of width direction printing in which an arranging direction of character strings coincides with a tape width direction; a label producing method capable of producing a label by using the width direction printing; a data processing method for the tape printing apparatus suitable for the width direction printing; a printing system that is a tape printing apparatus of a separate type, which includes a supply unit for supplying print image data and a tape printing apparatus for receiving the print image data to be printed on a tape; a label producing method for the printing system; a program; and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Regarding stand-alone tape printing apparatuses, there has been conventionally known a tape printing apparatus capable of width direction printing in which an arranging direction of character strings coincides with a tape width direction, as well as longitudinal direction printing in which an arranging direction of character strings coincides with a tape longitudinal direction. In this type of tape printing apparatus, character strings are created and edited in accordance with the longitudinal direction printing and images of the character strings are rotated by 90 degrees to create a print image for the width direction printing. Thereafter, the print image is printed in the width direction by its character size or while being somewhat reduced in size.
However, generally, the tape printing apparatus of the above-described type is based on the longitudinal direction printing. Thus, various fine settings which are effective only in the width direction printing (specific to the width direction printing) regarding printing and label production cannot be performed. Specifically, the various settings include: creating and editing character strings on the premise of the width direction printing; setting a label width corresponding to a tape longitudinal direction on the premise of the width direction printing; adjusting various print widths of a print image in which character string images are arranged in accordance with the label width; producing a variety of labels by printing the print image to run off the label width; and the like. Moreover, no tape printing apparatus of the separate type which is capable of the width direction printing has been known.
Generally, tape printing apparatuses are based on the longitudinal direction printing. Thus, data which are once edited and the like for creating a print image are basically subjected to file registration as files for the longitudinal direction printing. Consequently, in order to use the files for the width direction printing, it is required to perform anew various instructions and settings for the width direction printing after the files are read.
The tape longitudinal direction is a width direction of a label produced by the width direction printing (a label width direction). Thus, setting of a print length or a label length in the tape longitudinal direction in the longitudinal direction printing (setting of a length for so-called fixed length printing: fixed length setting) can be diverted to setting of a print width or a label width in the width direction printing. However, generally, the fixed length setting is applied to all printing after settings and is not an individual setting for each of the files. Thus, in order to perform the width direction printing of a desired file by a desired individual setting (a print width and a label width), it is required to perform resetting before each time of printing so as to have a desired individual setting.
However, in case where data which are edited and the like for the width direction printing are allowed to be registered as files for the width direction printing and a number of files of that type are prepared, it is inconvenient in that the data described above can be used only for the width direction printing. Moreover, as a whole, working efficiency is poor and operability is not good.